Ignition system.



G. SCHUMANN.

mumon SYSTEM.

APPLICATQN FILED DEC. 22. I9?- 1,302,474, Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

' Man G. SCHUMANN.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION HLED DEC. 22. I916.

1,302,474. Patented Apr. 29,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- SW @1560 Jamm I GUSTAV SCHUMANN, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA IGNITION SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 22, 1916. Serial No. 138,483.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, Gns'rav SCHUMANN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at 3104 Pennock street, Philadelphia, in the county'of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ignition Systems, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for successfully making and breaking an electrical circuit.

Another object thereof resides in an apparatus of the abovecharacter, operable for use in connection with the sparking system of an internal combustion engine, wherein is embodied improved features of construction for insuring the successful operation of the apparatus regardless of its speed of operation and, also, to dispense with the services of the usual' manually controlled lever, hitherto conuuonly employed in devices analogous to the present invention.

Other objects of my improved timing ap paratus reside in providing the same with collapsible contact making \vings which, when operating to close a circuit will be under the influence of spring pressure, which will operate to force the Wings away from its circuit closing position, so that \vhenthe means for operating the apparatus cease to revolve. it will be impossible for the electrical circuit, controlled by the timing apparatus, to remain closed to provide in).- proved circuit closing means comprising a plurality of resilient arms, one of which carries a contact stripforming a. part of 1 an electrical circuit, said arms being arranged to directly contact with the rotatable Wing members carried by a rotatable ele ment, the contacting of the wing members with the resilient contacting arms forms a distinct part of the present invention, inasmuch as it eliminates the use of intermediate motion transmitting members, simplifies the construction of'the device and promotes the successful operation,

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the features of con-- struction, combination of elements and parts hereinafter set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevationof the timing apparatus comprising present invention, illustratingthe circuit closing members in an open position.

Fig. 2 is a similar View disclosing the circuit closing members in a closed position.

Fig. 3 is a side elvation, illustrating diagrammatically the electrical circuit employed in connection with the timing apparat-us.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view.

Fig. 5 a detailed perspective view of the commutator and its associated \ving elements.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a slightly modified form of the timing apparatus com-. prising the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the modified form and i Fig. 8 is a detailed view disclosing a still further modification.

. Similar characters of reference denote cor responding parts throughout the sevgral' vieirs of the drawings. Although I am aware that various forms of make and break devices have been used heretofore in connection with internal and other combustion engines and machinery, wherein it has been endeavored to produce an abrupt and instantaneous spark to make and break the electrical circuit, it has been found that actual tests do not bring abouta uniform and non-increasing consumption of current regardless of the speed of operation of the mechanism or machine forming the intermediary to bring about the desired result. In my device I provide a mechanical construction adapted to the making and breaking of a circuit whereby the amount of current consumed will be substantially uni form regardless of the speed of rotation of the primary mechanism, and in which the closing of the circuit and the subsequent breaking of the same will be instantaneous but positive, with a minimum consumption of current.

In a great number of the known-devices rotatable members are employed, having radially extending pins or \vings incapable of other movement than to turn with the rotatable element. Constructions of this nature do not insure the accurate making and breaking of the circuit with minimum amount of current and further by saving the wings or pins permanen ly arranged Patented Apr. 29, 1919. v

upon the rotatable part, there is in time a certain amount of wear which would not take place if the pins were of a resilient or collapsible nature. Still further it is known that in electrical contact devices there have is, open or close, an electrical circult beenused pivota'lly mounted'pins or wings upon the rotatable member, in order to efi'ect the desired result. In these instances, however, thewings or pins are not strictly freely movable, or collapsible as in the nature of a" collapsible tap or other tool or a similar character. In my device I have the wings o1" pins so arranged that they are in'everyseuec technically collapsible, and are freely movabl'eupon-the rotatable member, aside from rotating with it as it turns about its axis.

The preferred embodiment of the timing apparatus, that is, the form illustrated in Figs. 1m 5 of the drawings, 'comprisesfa metallic base plate 1, having formed thereon an extended hub 2 in which is formed a central opening 3 for the reception of a drive shaft 4. This shaft whenthe device is employed in connection with an internal combustion engine, may be suitablyjdriven byany of the rotatable elements of the engine, and is operable to rotate at a time speed, as will. be clearly understood-f The outer or free extremity of the shaft 4 protrudes be ,yond the outerface of the base plate 1, andhas keyed or othewise secured thereto a circu1ar w1ng carrying element,"to be heremafter termed the rotatable element, said element g a apted to rotate in uniformity With the shaft 4. l i

The element 5 prererably consists ofcircular plates 6 and'7, which-are disposed in parallel relation and are united by a sleeve on bushing, 8, the lattei' being provided with a central keyed bore 9 for the reception of the protruding extremity of the shaft 4. Pins or studs pass transversely through the element 5 and are located at spaced. intervals in order to pivotally receive wihgs or fingers 11, saidfingers or wings being gen-' orally located between the platesti and 7 of the element, and are adapted to freely oscillate about the tflllkfilOfflS 10; the swinging 'movementof the' wings being limited or defined by cross .studs 12 which extend between the plates of the element. It-will be noted that by the connection existing between the wings of the element, that said wings will be capable of responding to c-en- *trifugal force when the element is in a state.

ofrotat'ion, so that the outer beveled extremities 13 of the wings will extend to a position beyond the peripheral edges of the element, when-the member 5 is rotating, so

that the wings wi-lllie in radial relation with the element, and will beheld in this position by the action of the studs 12.

'However,' it will be noted that the wings are noto'bliged to always resume this extended position, as it will be noted that the ,terminal 16, said set screwbeing able, in order that thedistanoe between the distance between the studs 12 is sufiicient to permit the wings tooscillate to what will be hereinafter termed an inactive position within the element.

The wings 11 are adapted to control, that which may embody an insulated terminal 16 which, as shown, is insulated as at 17 from the base plate. 1. Connected with the termi- I providesimproved means for establishing electrical communication between the plate 1 and the insulatedtenhinal 16.

To this end use is madeof resilient and flexible contact carrying arm 25, the latand is grounded upon the base plate 1." In connection with this circuit the invention ter being secured to a stationary post 26 fixed to the base plate 1. It will thus be evident that the outer end of the arm 25 may readily oscillate, and secured'to the free end of the'arm125 is a contact disk 27 of platinum or other similar material.- The disk 27 is noriiinally'situated in spaced relation from an adjustable setscrew 28,, threaded to the binding post or ins ted justdisk 27- and a similar disk 29, by the set screwF2-8, may be varied.

In order to establish electrical communicat1on between the contact disks 27 and 29,

the arm 25 has rigidly secured theretoanoffset extension 30, which extends toward the element 5 and isprovided with a cam extremity 31, located contiguous to the ele-.

ment .5, so as to be in path of movement of the wings 11 when the latter are in a,

state of rotation. The extension 25 is also provided with a locking extremity 32 which 15 deslgned to engage the free end ofthe resilient contact making arm 25, so as to Y prevent any undue vibration on part of the arm 25, which will p-robablyresult in closing the circuit 15, a's will be readily understood. I T l In order to insure the contacting of'th'e arms or wings 11 with the cam projection 31 of the extension 30, I providea trip-arm 85, of'similar construction'withrespect to the. arm 25, the trip arm pre'ferablylconsists of a'tlat resilient spring 36 having one xt-e tremity fixed as at 37 to a stationary post 38, the action of the spring being g av i d".

by stop pins 39. 'Secured to the spring/36 which is adapted to extend to point adjacent to peripheral edge of the element lhe trip arm is. primarily used to' prc 'as'at 40 is a trip extension 41, the latter being provided with a hooked extremity 42 tion in the quantity of current consumed 'thereby, over the devices of the prior art.

vent the wings 11 from remaining in engagement with the contact carrying arm 25 and to also insure the cooperation of the wings with the arm 25.

In operation, upon the rotation of the element 5 the wings or fingers 11 carried thereby, will be forced to resume their active or extended positions by the. action of centrifugal force, so that the beveled extremities thereof will lie beyond the peripheral edges of the element. When in this position the wings will, when revolving in direction of the arrow B, as shown in Fig. 1, engage with the hooked extremity 42 of the trip arm, this feature being insured by the location ofthe cooperating studs 12. The continued rotation of the wings resultsin their engagement with the cam extremity 31 of the contact carrying arm 25, so that the latter will be forced to oscillate and will carry therewith the contact disk 27 into engagemen-t with the contact 29 of the set screw 28, so that the circuit 15 will bridged. Now in order to insure a rapid breaking of the circuit 15, to establish a clear spark, the

hooked extremity 12 of the trip arm will i press upon the beveled end 13 of the wing or finger with which it is cooperating, and the influence of the spring-pressed trip arm will result in forcing the wing to collapse, that is, to swing away from the cam extension 31 and to thus permit the arm 2-5 to return to its normal position. A stud 15 is employed to regulate the arn125 in this respect. The cam extension 31 of the arm 25 also facilitates the collapsing of the wings or fingers 11. v

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the action of-the collapsible wings orfingers 11 will be-extremely eiiicient and positive in operation and that their action will be directly imparted to the contact carrying arm, without employing the services ofinter mediate auxiliary motion transferring element, as hitherto in common practice. The elimination of mechanical lag is one ofthe results of this direct movement, and by this construction any explosive motor can be operated from 50 R. P. M. up to substantially 1000 R. l; M., without necessitating the use of manual s n k-advance levers. or automatic spark advancing devices. ihis bcing due to the fact that the sparking or fir-- ing increases in direct. proportion to the advance of the motors speed. Moreover, there are no possibilities of the contact points 27 and 29 ever remaining in a closed position, this being due to the expulsion force exerted upon the wings 11 by the trip arm and will. therefore, disclose a marked deprecia The wings will only operateavhen the ele ment 5 isrevolving in an anti-clockwise d1- rectzon thus-the l 0 1.bllll316S of a motor pleted.

only used when needed and for brief periods only, as it will be noted that the circuit 15 is of the so-called open circuit type.

It is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the details oi structure of the timing apparatus above described, and several of such changes or modifications have been disclosed in Figs. (3 to 8 of the drawings. In Figs. 6 and T the timing apparatus consists of the base plate 1 and a rotatable element 2, and which is driven by a revolving shaft 3. The pivoted wings 4 are carried by the element 2 and are provided with beveled extremities 5. \Vhcn the element is in a state of rotation the extremities 5" of the wings lie beyond the peripheral edges of the element 2, and when in this position said beveled extremities will contact with the resilient trip arm 7, which is fixed tothe base plate 1. A. resilient contact carrying strip 8 is also fixed to the base plate I by means of a stud or an equivalent 9, said contact carrying arm being provided with a hooked extremity 10, which is operable to engage with the substantial V-shaped extremity ll of the trip arm 7 thus when the trip arm engages with the wings 4 the same will be elevated and will carry in unison therewith a contact carrying arm 8, so that a contact point 12 carried by the arm 8 will be forced to engage with a similar contact point 13, adjustable within an insulated terminal or binding post 14, whereby an electrical circuit, not shown, will be com- The V-shapcd extension 11 of the trip arm 7 is of peculiar construction, so that when the wings 4? pass from one side to the other thereof, the wings will be forced or thrust away from 'ilsextended" 1' active position 'to a collapsed or inactive position, substantially in the manner accomp ished in the preferred form. I 7

In Fig. a still further modification has been disclosed in which a trip arm 7? is provided with a longitudinal extending slot 7", said slot being adapted to cooperate with the beveled extremities 5" of the wings P'so that the oscillation of the flexible and resilient contact carrying arm 8 may be readily controlled. i

Thus it will be evident that the objects of the present invention have been achieved,

and that all of the advantageous features above mentioned are, among others, present.

The device is simple in construction, of few parts. and not liable to become out of order, said parts being readily accessible so that in the event any of the same become disabled, the disordered part or parts may be readily removed or repaired, or a new substituted in lieu thereof. I

Attention is particularly called to fact part may be that the wings are freely movable in every sense upon-the rotatable element, the stop pins being provided merely for the purpose of limiting the free movement in a certain direction when the pins aredn operating position. It is because of the freelymovable wings that the rotatable member can be properly termed a collapsible cam or collapsible element, and the individual wings do not rely upon individual springs to re-' tain them in operating positions; the wingsmoreover would assume their operating positions dueto the centrifugal action of the rotatable member, and it is the spring action of the trip arm which is the unit for all of the wings as they move into operating position, whereby the tripping of the wings is accomplished so that theywill successively operate to close the circuit at the particular moment when it is desired to release the spark.

I/It will be seen that at the particular moment whenany one of the wings is in the position whereby it has moved the movable contact carrying member into engagement with the stationary contact member to "close the circuit, that particular wing will be under the reverse pressure of the movable contact member and the trip arm, causing the. wing to swing upon its pivot and collapse toward the axis of the rotatable member or cam. It may also be noted here that due to the particular construction and formation of the wings and,their relation, to the movable contact member, any one wing at the moment of contact with the movable contact melnbere causlng the latter to close the oircuit with the rigid contact'member, will, by

' the reverse action of the spring of the movable contact member collapse to an inoperative position, permitting said wing to readily' pass by the movable contact member, and thereby insure thebreaking of the cir-' cuit as quickly and in as short atime as the circuit isclosed by the action of the wings coming in contact with the movable contact member.

Therefore as mentioned heretofore the particular formation of the rotatable member or cam and its juxtaposedparts, namely the wings, will result in the making and breaking of a'circuit in an instant of time and with a minimum amount of cur-gent, that is to say-,-1'egardless of the speed of rotation of the cam, the amount of current used in ,making and breaking the circuitwill be uni-.

form, and will not increase in proportion to the increase in speed. In conclusion attentionis directed to the directness of the method employed to close the circuit, and by which it will be seen theuse of auxiliary or other motion transmitting devices is entirelyobviated, to the end that the most simple and cconomicah but Leeann ment with the springs, the arcs upon which I the springs oscillate will be such as to. exert a direct force upon th wings in the approximate direction in which the latter are traveling. This arrangement of parts greatly facilitates the exp ulsion of the wings from engagement with the springs 72, as will be readily understood. Furthermore, the

strength and action of the springs 72 will be considerably enhanced'by the method, disclosed in the modified forms, of mounting the same upon the base plate 1 Having described the invention what is claimed as new and patentable is:

1. In a'device of the character described, the combination with a spiing actuated contact-making member, of a rdtatable cam consisting of a rotatable element and freely 'movable wings thereon, the latter engaging the contact-making member to move the latter into contact-making position, the wings being then reengaged by thecontact-making member so that the spring power of the latter will move the former out of operating position, when the cam is rotating.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a spring actuated contactmaking member, of a cam consisting of a rotatable element, and freely movable members thereon, the latter being unhindered by any spring like action except when, in the rotation of the element said freely movable members engage the spring actuated ci-ntact making member, and are in turn operated upon by it, to move said members out of opt erative position.

V 3. In a device of the character described, in combination with a rotatable shaft, and an element rotatable with said shaftyoscillating wings carried by said element and provided with substantially beveled working, extremities, resilient circuit closing ment circuit controllingmechanism comprising a.

resilient contact strip. :and a trip-arm normally engaging said strip of a rotary element, swinging wings carried by the rotary element, and means also carried by the rotary element for limiting movement of the element, and Wings said wings,'the Wings being arranged to engage the trip-arm during rotation of the rotary element.

5. In an interrupter, the combination With circuit controlling mechanism comprising a resilient contact strip and a trip-arm normall-y engaging said strip; of a rotary element, spaced stops carried by said rotary ivoted to the rotary element and movable etween the stops and arranged to engage the trip arm of the circuit controlling mechanism during rotation of the rotary element.

6;. In an interrupter, the combination with circuit controlling mechanism comprising a flexible arm carrying a contact strip and having means for limiting the vibration of said strip, and a trip-arm normally engaga resilient trip-arm normally ing the flexible arm; of a rotary element having swinging Wings arranged to engage the said trip-arm during rotation of the r0- tary element.

7; In an interrupter, circuit controlling mechanism actuatable by a rotary element and made up of a contact carrying arm having a hook-like extremity on which is a cam extension and a rearwardly directed portion, a resilient contact strip carried by said arm and having its free end opposed to said rearwardly extending portion on the hook, and engaging the cam extension on the first named armand positioned to be first engaged element.

by the rotary I In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. 3:

GUSTAV SCHUMANN. 

